In The Nick of Time
by missingfailures
Summary: In the midst of a hunt, Kiragi accidentally steps into a bear trap. Before things get any better, it gets worse.


**A/N: **Don't mind me just posting more of a ship that is critically lacking content.

* * *

Kiragi made his way throughout the woods as he followed any tracks his target left, whether it be hoof marks, droppings or whatnot. He'd been following this particular deer for quite some time, and he wouldn't stop until he either bagged it or night fell. His eyes darted to the ground below as he came across more hoof marks, these were still relatively fresh, it wouldn't take long for him to find and bag it at this rate. In just a few weeks he'd learned this particular forest's layout and knew it like the back of his hand, that deer couldn't stay away from him for long, he headed off in its direction.

There were times he'd caught a glimpse of someone else in the distance, their body hidden underneath a hooded cloak, any attempts at striking a conversation were ignored. A fellow hunter with a different approach for catching his prey, no doubt. Today, Kiragi had not seen any signs of the stranger so far, perhaps they had opted to stay home for the day.

Kiragi soon came across more deer tracks, these couldn't be any older than a few minutes. It was right around the corner, he was sure of it. With newfound determination, Kiragi resumed his hunt, this was making up to be a quick and eas-

**-SNAP-**

Kiragi collapsed face first in a heap, nearly breaking his jaw on an outcrop mere inches away. Something was clamping down on his ankle, it hurt, _really bad_. He tried to scream, bring voice to his pain, but the noise caught in his throat and only a choked growl came out.

The archer took a few regulated breaths to calm himself down, then rolled over onto his back and sat up. The sight made him wince and ran his blood cold: a bear trap was biting down painfully onto his ankle, - having pierced through his boot - painted various shades of green and partially hidden underneath branches. Already a small trickle of blood was present, seeping from the wound and soaking his clothes. Try as he might, the archer could not find it in himself to maintain a clear mind, and rationality gave way to fear and panic.

The smallest movement, even a simple twitch was cause for agony, Kiragi scooted forward - careful not to press down too harshly on his leg- and attempted to pry it open. He grit his teeth and fought the pain, blood soaked his fingers as the jaws parted partially, each seconds were excruciating as metal teeth scraped against flesh. His grip slipped, and the jaws bit down deeper in response as a pained yelp escaped him.

He looked all around him for anything, anything that could be used but went deadly still as he heard the crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs coming ever closer. The figure that emerged from behind a tree kept their head low, a faded red cloak hid most of their body; the stranger. "What have we here?" He asked calmly.

"You there, you have to help me! My leg's caught in a bear trap!" Kiragi strained, motioning to his injured, scarlet stained limb.

"Hmm," The stranger stepped forward and knelt down, his face was hidden underneath a hood and what little skin he showed was covered in a plethora of scars. "And you just stepped right into it?" He asked, voice muffled slightly - as if behind a mask.

The archer was momentarily taken aback by the stranger's nonchalance, Kiragi bared his teeth as he fought the pain, "It was hidden underneath a pile of branches. Shit, it looks really bad, help me out, please!"

The stranger ignored his plea and shook his head with a soft laugh, "A rhetorical question my friend. After all, I'm the one who set it up in the first place."

Those words stung far worse than the jaws biting him ever did. The archer felt his blood run cold at the revelation, he could only stare blankly ahead with his mouth agape.

"W... wha-?"

The stranger raised his head to reveal a bone mask baring a fearsome carved grin, beneath it a pair of eyes stared back with malice.

"And you're right, that wound you got there is pretty bad, worse than it looks even." He unsheathed the machete at his hip and pointed to the bear trap then began to speak.

"A special design I made myself. Serrated blades, the more you struggle, the deeper it'll cut and the more you'll bleed. Sharpened the blades as well; I can assure you that you will bleed. Stronger coils too, more force when it bites down, good luck trying to get it off without someone else. But that's not all, here's the best bit; I coated the teeth with a fast-acting blood thinner." He revealed, "Noticed how bad your leg looks? Actually, let me show it to you."

The stranger tore off a section of the archer's pants, and the sight only further confirmed his fears; blood was flowing aplenty from his wounds, the stranger gave a hard kick to the bear trap and more red poured out as pain soared once more and a scream escaped him. He was barely holding back tears, "W-why would you d-do this?" Kiragi managed to stammer, leaning away as far as he could from his aggressor.

The stranger only shrugged, "That trap wasn't meant for you: I hunt bears, they tire themselves out struggling to escape, makes it so much easier to kill them. Besides, I'll take what I can get, everyone's gotta eat, kid. I'm not passing up an easy meal like you — if the gods had you step in my trap today then so be it."

_NONONONONONO_

The more the stranger spoke, the more Kiragi realized how much trouble he truly was in. First he was trapped, then he was at risk of bleeding out, now he was face to face with someone who wasn't above cannibalism. He couldn't hold them back anymore, the tears flowed freely down his cheeks in a mix of dread and pain.

"No, please..." He sniffled, the stranger just laughed again. "What, and just let you crawl back home? I highly fucking doubt mommy and daddy won't try to track and gut me once they find out what happened, so here's what's going to happen; I'm going to kill you, and no one will find your body, no one will find me either." The laugh tapered off into a growling sigh, "Enough dawdling, let's get down to business." The blade dug painfully into his leg and was slowly - torturously dragged across.

Searing agony flared through him. It stung, burned, bit, far worse than anything else he'd ever suffered in life. The bloodcurdling scream that tore through his throat echoed throughout the forest then faded into sobs. The stranger wiped the blood off on his arm with a laugh, then the pain began anew.

**"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"** Kiragi screamed at the the top of his lungs, hands digging themselves into the soil in agony. The stranger only growled in annoyance over his cries, "You talk too much, let's take care of that."

A strong, muscular hand wrapped itself around his throat in a vice-like grip and squeezed. Deprived of air, Kiragi panicked and struggled for breath, the only thing keeping him awake was the adrenaline, terrified eyes darted in every direction as spots danced in his peripherals, his consciousness was fading by the second. In a moment of lucidity, his hand darted to the hunting knife at his hip and plunged the weapon into his would-be murderer's wrist.

The man roared out in pain, the hand around Kiragi's throat retreated as he dropped the machete and clutched his wrist. The archer took the chance to gasp for much needed air. With a grunt, the stranger pulled the blade out then discarded it behind him before quickly wrapping the wound in bandages.

The stranger jutted his head back to Kiragi and growled with rage, "You son of a BITCH! You're going to regret that."

The stranger raised his boot and delivered a heavy stamp to the archer's chest. A sickening 'crack' was heard as the boy recoiled from the blow, the impact strong enough to knock the wind out of him and leave him wheezing for breath in between pained sobs. The second stomp was delivered lower, and Kiragi cried out as he lost control of his bladder.

The stranger retrieved his machete with a snarl, "I'm done playing games with you. Now you're in deep fucking trouble, kid." He growled, his eyes trailed down to the puddling stain evident across Kiragi's groin and a hearty laugh escaped him, "Scared, huh? _Good_."

With a sinister chuckle he raised the giant knife high for the killing blow, Kiragi could only weakly raise a hand in futile protest and shake his head.

This was it, this was how he would die; on the ground, trapped like an animal, bleeding from his injured leg, terrified, crying fearfully as he laid in a puddle of his own piss.

"Your ride's over mutie, time to die."

"NO!"

What followed felt like a blur, before the stranger could bring his arm down and end him, something - no, someone - tackled the stranger down and repeatedly plunged his hunting knife into the man's chest and throat until the gurgling stopped and he remained still.

The figure then darted to his side, even with the blood loss he could clearly tell that it was Selkie. A beacon of hope stirred in his chest as he acknowledged her presence with a relieved nod. The kitsune was dead worried, "Gods, Kiragi, what the hell happened to you?!" She cried out, horrified by the sight before her.

He weakly raised a hand and pointed to his bleeding limb, "Stepped in it by accident... wanted to kill me... help me... get it off." He strained.

To his surprise, the girl successfully managed to pry the metallic jaws open long enough for him to pull out his bleeding leg, maybe the man had lied, or maybe the adrenaline coursing through her veins was helping. He didn't know, didn't care. The man was dead and she was there to help him, to save him. But with the trap gone, blood poured freely from his leg like a river, his senses were starting to dull.

Without a shred of hesitation Selkie tore at her own clothes, tearing off strips and using them as makeshift bandages to minimize blood flow, tied so tightly the skin went white. Had he been in a clearer state of mind he likely would've cried out under her ministrations, but all he felt was numbness and as such remained silent.

The girl carefully hoisted him up and placed his form on her shoulders, then held his leg and arm in a fireman's carry. "I'm getting you back to camp, everything's going to be fine, just hold on!" She reassured him hurriedly as she broke into a sprint and ran as fast as she could, gliding through whatever obstacles that came in her path.

"I-I don't want to..!" He whimpered with a sob, the adrenaline was waning and his senses were crawling back into him with dread.

"Save your breath, I'm NOT letting you die!"

"Selkie, I...I lo-"

Selkie turned her head and stared firmly into his eyes, her face wracked with worry, "Everything's going to be alright, Kiragi, just hold on." She said reassuringly. "Whatever happens just don't blackout, do it for me, please!" She begged him earnestly.

Kiragi only nodded weakly and answered with a barely audible hum. Many times during the trek did the veil of unconsciousness creep close, and each time he pushed it back, only when they reached camp did his strength fade enough for it to overtake him. The last thing Kiragi saw before blacking out was his parents alongside Sakura - healing stave in hand - frantically rushing toward him.

* * *

Kiragi winced as he came to his senses and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he took a breath but hissed from the resulting pain.

"Kiragi?" He heard a pair of voices utter quietly with tension. Even in his half-conscious state he knew those voices, he looked ahead to see his parents flanking him, Oboro on his left and Takumi to the right, pure worry written over their faces.

"Mom? Dad?"

He heard them choke back sobs, and they leaned forward and embraced him together.

He expected his parents to be furious at him for his near death, instead he only found them immensely relieved by his safety. They cried tears of relief as they held him close and apologized profusely for being unable to help. Kiragi had rarely seen either his mother or father cry, and the sight shattered his heart.

When they pulled back, both helped him in propping himself up with pillows, then held his hands. "W-what happened?" He asked.

"Selkie heard you calling out for help, she found you trapped and under attack by that monster," Oboro scowled at the mere mention of him. "She got you out and ran to us for help. That's all she told us."

"You were out for a whole day, For a moment I... I thought we might've lost you." Takumi picked up where his wife left off, tears slid down his cheek as he leaned forward and embraced his son once more and stifled a sob, simply thinking about it caused him distress.

"It's okay dad," Kiragi returned the hug and patted his father on the back. "I'm still in one piece... well, mostly." His poor attempt at humor elicited a small chuckle from the both of them and Takumi leaned back with a smile.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened back there?" His mother asked prudently.

It was as if she'd flipped a switch, Kiragi's mood visibly dropped as he slumped back against the pillows, he breathed deeply and steeled himself. "It started like any other hunt, I searched for some tracks, headed in their general direction and all of that."

He told them everything, from the dreaded snap of the jaws...

"I was just making my way through some greenery, and then..." he winced and motioned to his bandaged leg, they too winced. Simply thinking about the event made it ache with a phantom pain. "I stepped in it by mistake, it blended in perfectly with the ground, there was no way I could've seen it." Kiragi explained. "I panicked and tried to get it off me, well, you can see how that turned out."

...To his torment by the stranger's hand...

"And then..." A lump formed in his throat as tears threatened to fall once more. "And then... _he_ came." Kiragi closed his eyes and shook his head. The stranger couldn't hurt anyone anymore, he was completely and utterly dead, yet merely speaking of him brought dread to his heart, as if he would emerge from beneath the flaps and finish the job.

"I begged for help but he didn't seem to be worried, he outright told m-me he was the one who put it there. T-then he told me how he modified the trap, sharper teeth, blood thinner...showed me how bad my leg was. After that he... he..." Kiragi broke down and sobbed into his mother's chest as his father held him dearly. "He-he w-wanted to e-e-EAT m-me!" He cried out. His parents' comforting embrace tightened and Kiragi willingly buried himself deeper in their protective grasp. Unbeknownst to him, their faces were contorted from fury. Had the stranger still been alive, his existence would've no doubt been one of nothing but suffering.

Oboro soothingly rubbed a hand around his back, "We're here Kiragi, everything's okay..." she whispered, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her fury.

Little by little Kiragi calmed down, he retreated from their grasp and thanked them earnestly before resuming. "He got bored of talking, and started slicing my leg. He was making it as slow as possible, he wanted me to suffer." He winced.

"I screamed for help and he started strangling me, didn't want anyone to hear me. I managed to get my knife out and stabbed him in the arm," He could tell from the subtle shift in their expressions that the stranger's pain brought them a degree of satisfaction. "It got him off me, sure, but that only pissed him off enough to warrant stomping on my chest."

Hoping to spare himself some embarrassment, Kiragi didn't mention having wet himself from the stomp. He paused and took a deep breath to steel his nerves. "He lost whatever patience he had when I d-did that," his voice trembled with fear. "He raised that giant knife above his head, and-" the boy clutched his head and whimpered pitifully as the events replayed before his eyes.

"I was seconds away from being done for, seconds." He uttered quietly.

Kiragi wiped the tears from his eyes before resuming. "He raised it high and mocked me one last time, but the moment before he could end me, that's when she came in."

...To Selkie's timely rescue.

It didn't escape his parents that not long after he mentioned her name, his mood visibly improved and his breathing stabilized. The event had exacerbated his affinity for the girl.

"She tackled him down, she had my knife and... well, she made sure he wouldn't hurt anyone ever again." Verbal affirmation of his death proved to be... gratifying, for the three of them.

"Selkie freed me and bandaged my leg as best as she could. She carried me on her shoulders and ran back to camp, she kept talking to me all the while, didn't want to risk having me pass out." Try as he might, the boy couldn't hide the faint blush from splaying itself across his cheeks. Something his parents thankfully chose not to comment upon.

"We made it back to camp, that's when I lost consciousness and woke up next to you two." Kiragi slumped back and sighed, exhausted.

The trio continued to talk for a short while, sadly, duty called them both, and they left shortly afterwards. But before they did so, Kiragi called out to them one last time.

"Mom, dad, I swear I'll be vigilant from now on, I'll never let something like this happen ever again." Kiragi promised earnestly, once was already too much. A smile crossed his face as a fragment of his usual cheerful self returned, a sharp contrast to his previous, fear-ridden and tearful state.

Once his parents left, Kiragi was left to his own device for a short amount of time until someone else came into his tent. The familiar small, shy form of his aunt Sakura came into view, a sun festal in her grasp. "H-hi, Kiragi, I'm here to check up and help you recover." she said quietly.

Seeing another familiar face made him perk up and he cheerfully answered, "Aunt Sakura!" he sat up a bit too briskly and immediately cringed from the resulting pain.

Sakura shook her head and took seat by his side, "Oh, no. You shouldn't move t-too much, those wounds will only worsen if you force too much." she suggested, hovering an arm to his chest to discourage from any further movement.

Kiragi answered with a understanding hum, "Right, how..." unease creeped into his cheerful mood, speaking about the incident was a surefire way to do so, "-how hurt am I? How bad is it?" He asked, slightly uncomfortable in face of the oncoming revelation.

The redhead sighed grimly, "Its... pretty bad, some are much worse than others, would you... like me to tell you?" Sakura asked, careful not to cause him any further distress.

"Yes... please."

The princess breathed deeply and held her staff tight. "To begin, it's mostly your chest and leg, the latter of which has by far suffered the worst." She began, "the trap c-caused multiple lacerations and tears to your lower leg, an artery was severed too a-alongside multiple veins."

As if to accentuate her statement, a phantom pain joined the constant throbbing in his leg, he clenched his teeth behind his mouth and silently bared it.

"Moving on, some other parts have suffered moderate to severe lacerations, all of them centralized where blood flows aplenty - d-deliberately made to bleed you. The cuts are too rough to have been made with a sword."

"A machete." He interjected.

Sakura looked from up from his leg, "Hum?"

"He used a machete, he _wanted_ me to suffer." Kiragi clarified, exhaling a shaky breath.

Sakura visibly blanched in horror and she placed a hand to her mouth. She shook her head and placed a hand to his shoulder, "I... I'm so sorry..."

The archer nodded and suppressed the urge to cry again, "Just, carry on."

Sakura nodded and motioned to his chest, "There's not much else to say, your chest suffered some bruising, and there are some damage to your ribs too, hence why breathing may be painful. how are you faring?"

"My leg still hurts, but not as bad as before, comes in waves." He answered, "breathing... if I don't force it I can manage."

Sakura answered with a nod, but before she could speak Kiragi did so, "Hey, how bad did it look, when I arrived before yesterday?"

Sakura tore her sight off him and shook her head, visibly uncomfortable, "Horrible, awful, I'd never seen someone b-bleed that much in my entire life as a healer... I know when a thinner is involved - the makeshift bandages Selkie made were oversaturated with blood." She said grimly. "Thankfully I managed to seal your wound with help from the others and applied a solution to stop the bleeding."

"That bad, huh?"

"Y-yes, had you arrived mere minutes later we... could've l-lost you for good. Death came close to you that day, too close." She said.

She spoke again, "A-anyway, now that's out of the way, I'm here to take care of your wounds, change your bandages, things like that."

"Can't you simply use your healing staves?"

Sakura shook her head, "...If only it were that easy. Magic helps, yes, b-but it can only do so much, the rests needs to heal on its own." She said as she unwrapped the bandages around his leg.

Kiragi looked away during the entirety of it as she cleaned it and applied a few healing salves, doing her best not to press down too harshly and reopen any wound. She replaced the bandages and gave him a concoction, claiming it would help alleviate the pain. He drank the liquid and did his best not to retch at the foul taste, but her words rang true - already he felt some of his discomfort vanish.

"It'll take time for you to recover, sadly, some scars will remain... emotional ones too. We might be able to get you out of bed in a few days, b-but should that happen... refrain from any rigorous physical activities, e-especially running!" She informed him.

The shrine maiden stood up again, "T-that's all the time I-I have for today," she bowed her head in apology, they said their goodbyes, then she left the tent.

As the day passed, more visitors stopped by his tent to see him. Ryoma, Hinoka, Hinata, Shiro, Asugi, Hisame, Sophie, Shigure, Rhajat and more. It warmed his heart to know his friends and family cared for his wellbeing, yet despite all the encouragement and wish for a swift recovery, a pang of longing remained in his chest. Selkie hadn't come to see him yet, and he oh so desperately yearned for her company.

The more Kiragi thought of her, the more he became aware of the burning sensation in his chest.

_"You love her."_

Kiragi was always fond of her, that was as clear as it could be, and she obviously liked him too, considering how much time they spent playing and hunting together in the woods. The forest proved to be the perfect spot for them to hang out, spacious and brimming with life, it suited them just fine. From tag to hide and seek, wrestling and roughhousing, rabbit to bear, everything was oh so much more enjoyable with her around. Simply thinking about her smile gave him butterflies in his stomach.

They were close friends, very close ones at that, she'd given him a more than a fair share of hugs, and he had done the same, but those were merely displays of gratitude and platonic affection... right?

Then why did his heart always skipped a beat whenever he thought of her?

He had to tell her.

* * *

Night had fallen, the girl hadn't come to visit him, to his despondence.

Kiragi laid fully awake in bed, hoping to fall asleep and simply end the day, yet it refused to come to him. Without fail, whenever he became sleepy and closed his eyes, his mind would immediately focus to the traumatic encounter and snap him back awake in a cold sweat. No matter what he did, his mind always then darted to her, he couldn't take her off his mind - not after how much she did for him.

With only the sound of crickets outside for company, Kiragi resigned himself to simply closing his eyes and waiting for the fatigue to build up to a point where even the nightmarish memory couldn't hope to budge him from slumber.

...

What was that noise?

Kiragi raised his head and focused on the sound, even in his half-awake state he could tell those were footsteps. Someone was approaching his tent with a slow, tentative pace.

The figure passed through the flaps and even in darkness, he could tell just fine as to who they were. Already he could feel his heart beat louder, his stomach did a flip.

"Selkie?"

She nodded her head and quietly affirmed, "I'm here." She sat by the bedside and looked straight ahead. Her outfit was of a different color - bright white instead of a dark red - no doubt due to the damaged state of her previous one. "I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier, I had... things to take care of. Again, sorry if that made you worry."

He answered with a nod, "That's okay." Deep inside however, he was certain she wasn't telling the whole truth.

She turned her head just slightly towards him and stared from the corner of her eyes, "I just wanted to say I'm glad to know you're doing okay." She said quietly as her hand slid to rest above his, he flipped his hand over and the pair silently held hands.

"Thank you."

Her ears flickered as she turned to face him head on, "Hmm?" Intrigue was evident across her face.

His hold on her hand tightened ever so slightly, "Just... thank you, for getting me out of that trap, for rescuing me, you saved my life." He answered truthfully, there were no embellishments, no praises, just his heartfelt gratitude.

Selkie simply nodded in understanding and smiled, - his heart skipped a beat - he shuffled aside and tapped the bed in a silent invitation for company. The girl carefully crawled over - making sure not to graze his leg - then slid under the covers and laid her body against his, Kiragi shifted as to lay on his side as well and the pair found themselves gazing deeply into the other's eyes.

"I've been meaning to ask, but how did you arrive so quickly?" The archer asked.

"That?" Her demeanor turned unsure as she averted her eyes and looked elsewhere. "I don't know, I just... happened to be around, is all." She answered quietly.

"Are you sure?"

Selkie shook her head and shrugged, "I really can't explain it, but when you went hunting that day, I had this gut feeling out of nowhere that something was about to go wrong. I headed out, and when I heard you scream I ran as fast as I could to get to you. I found you in that trap, I saw him, and..." she angrily shut her eyes and bared her teeth as she half-suppressed a hateful growl, but couldn't contain the tremor in her hands. Kiragi held her hands in his and she progressively calmed down before continuing after a deep breath. "I made sure he wasn't going to hurt anyone ever again, for all I know I could've been at it far longer than I needed to."

The boy wrapped his arms around her and held her close, tears welled up in his eyes and threatened to fall.

"I ran as fast as I could, the thought of you dying terrified me, I couldn't let it happen. I'd never forgive myself if you did," Selkie shook her head dejectedly, "While you were out yesterday, I stayed by your side for the entirety of it. I just... I had to be sure you were okay."

"When you woke up, I couldn't find it in myself to speak with you and left. I couldn't be certain that... that you'd accept the truth that I..." the kitsune trailed off and struggled to continue.

"That I'd accept the truth that you..?" Kiragi repeated unsurely, a part of him froze at the possibility of what she could be enticing, his heart rose, his eyes widened ever so slightly.

"N-nothing, forget it." Selkie shook her head and sighed, Kiragi deflated ever so slightly. "You were saying something back there," She remarked quietly in an off-handed manner.

"Back there?"

"While I was carrying you back to camp, you started talking but I cut you off, what was it going to be?"

"...You already know the answer." He replied solemnly.

"..." Selkie's eyes widened ever so slightly then looked elsewhere. "You mean..."

"Everything went so fast, I wasn't sure if I'd make it, so I figured I'd at least get it off my chest." Kiragi breathed, he cupped her cheek with a hand and her eyes met his.

"I love you, Selkie. I love you with all my heart, you mean the world to me." He confessed, baring his soul to her.

Her face lit up at the revelation, her lips parted in shock, "I..."

"It's alright if you don't..."

"No, it's not that at all... I," She stuttered for a few moments as she struggled to find words then moaned in irritated frustration. She decided to make her feelings clear instead and leaned forward to gently press her lips against his. The boy flinched slightly from the unexpected contact but did not shy away from her touch.

When she slowly leaned back, an expression of shock mixed with joy remained on his face, his first kiss. His mouth opened and closed as he stuttered blankly in a failed attempt to form words.

"I love you too."

Overwhelmed with both joy and relief, Kiragi hastily darted forward and kissed her in return. It was rushed and sloppy, but he didn't care.

"I..." the words caught once more in his throat as a flurry of different expression plastered themselves across his face. Tears of relief, joy and passion fell freely down his cheeks as he opted to simply dig his head into her chest and cried softly.

"If you h-hadn't been there, I-I'd be dead..." he sniffled and buried himself deeper into her grasp. "He would've killed me, a-and nobody would be any the wiser."

The girl held him closer as she returned the hold. "It's okay, let it all out, I'm here," she said softly, soothingly tracing circles into his back.

The boy cried softly into her shoulder as he vented all manners of repressed feelings, and it broke her heart to see the usual cheerful optimist she knew and loved reduced to such a state.

Eventually, once he had no more tears to shed and simply breathed quietly, she held him tighter than before, mindful of his cracked ribs, "I swear, so long as I live, I won't let anybody hurt you." She promised, stifling a sob herself. "When you hurt, I hurt. If you need me, I'll always be there for you, no exceptions." She finished with a kiss to his forehead.

"Mmm," He pulled back and stared deep into her eyes, "Stay with me for the night, please?"

Selkie answered with a smile, "Of course." The pair embraced once more and nuzzled into the other's neck before falling into a peaceful slumber.


End file.
